The present invention relates as indicated to segmental V belts in general and to reinforcement members in or on the segments selectively to interconnect the same in particular.
V belts are generally formed in a one piece endless configuration adapted to pass around a drive pulley and a driven pulley. Such belts are generally made with fabric and/or cord cores, which are generally encased in and vulcanized to a natural or synthetic rubber compounds. Such V belts are provided with continuous radially inner and radially outer surfaces and with inwardly converging tapered sidewalls which are received within and wedged against the sidewalls of the pulley grooves. An example of an endless belt with internal reinforcement and a plurality of tapered sidewalls is disclosed in White U.S. Pat. No. 3,853,017. Other endless V belts formed from linear bodies spliced at their ends are disclosed, for example, in Lawson U.S. Pat. No. 3,783,704, Gusdorf U.S. Pat. No. 1,457,569, Tolman U.S. Pat. No. 1,706,367, Argy U.S. Pat. No. 2,350,861, Dahlstrom U.S. Pat. No. 2,309,305 and Elvin U.S. Pat. No. 2,543,903. Other commercially available linear or endless V belts are disclosed in Worthington's "Mechanical Power Transmission Equipment Manual", copyright 1963.
Frequently, V belts are installed in locations that are difficult to reach because of interfering structure. Also, occasionally it is difficult to move either the driven or drive pulley relative to the other to install or remove the endless belts. To alleviate the problems of access or installation, segmental V belts have been proposed in which a plurality of body segments are connected end to end ultimately to form an endless belt of any desired length. Such a belt is shown, for example, in Jenkins U.S. Pat. No. 3,368,417 wherein castellations on the ends of the abutting segments are interdigited and joined by pins. Waugh U.S. Pat. No. 2,847,864 discloses a similar connection form in which straps are joined to the ends of the belt body and cooperate with suitable linking members and pin assemblies when abutted to form a connection.